NASHVILLE, Tenn. (September 17, 2018) – Firestone Industrial Products Company, LLC (FSIP), an innovator with more than 80 years of experience developing technology to eliminate vibration in global transportation, achieved third place in the Trailer Innovation 2019 awards, a recognition presented at the Bi-Annual Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung (IAA) Commercial Vehicles Conference in Hanover, Germany. The company’s intelligent air spring sensor received the award in the components category, marking the second consecutive recognition for FSIP at IAA.
“To be recognized for our first-ever fully integrated intelligent air spring sensor is a great achievement for FSIP and speaks to our leadership developing innovative solutions and products,” said Craig Schneider, president, FSIP. “Our work toward revolutionizing the connected vehicle of the future is a testament to our dedication to providing our customers with vehicular technology that helps shape mobility in the ways that serve them best.”
Today, many European trailers are equipped with electro-pneumatic leveling control systems that regulate the trailer height. In collaboration with Knorr-Bremse, FSIP designed and developed a new intelligent air spring sensor and integrated it on the Knorr-Bremse iLvl trailer level control system. Replacing the existing deflection sensor, the FSIP air spring sensor measures the important trailer height and communicates this directly and constantly to the trailer electronic braking system via CAN messages, scalable for multiple air bellows. The sensor is designed to monitor vehicle height for optimal trailer levels, and it improves system robustness and reduces installation efforts and configuration work in the production. Completely integrated into the suspension system, the FSIP air spring sensor is shielded from the possibility of environmental wear and provides greater accuracy.
“With the established trend on electro-pneumatic leveling systems on trailers, Knorr-Bremse recognizes the value that the Firestone intelligent air spring sensors can have on safety and predictive maintenance for commercial vehicles,” said Dr. Jürgen Steinberger, member of the management board of Knorr-Bremse Commercial Vehicle Systems Europe. “Combining the Firestone intelligent air spring sensors with trailer control systems, such as iLvl in combination with TEBS G2.2, not only improves the current system function, but it also provides great potential for future vehicle monitoring functions. Looking ahead, understanding the actual status of the suspension component health and the dynamics of the suspension corner on the vehicle will play a key role in safety monitoring functions for automated driving.”
The FSIP intelligent air spring sensor, while currently used in the height application in this collaboration with Knorr-Bremse, has the potential to monitor height, pressure, temperature and acceleration in a constant stream of data to the vehicle. It will change the way future fleet owners manage vehicle uptime and maximize utilization of the vehicle through predictive maintenance alerts. Intelligent air spring sensors will play an integral role in establishing a smart corner of technology, a concept that Bridgestone and Firestone work toward, linking tire technology and air springs to optimize vehicle performance and predictive maintenance solutions.
The Trailer Innovation awards were established in 2002 to recognize innovations in the European trailer and bodybuilding industries, which were otherwise overlooked in other award ceremonies. Now, the awards are an integral part of IAA with hundreds of entries in seven categories. Finalists are selected by a jury of elite industry journalists from 16 of the most influential European transportation magazines. This year, Jörg Montag of the Trailer Innovation Jury will recognize winners at the official award ceremony, which will take place at IAA on Friday, Sept. 21. FSIP earned the runner-up recognition in the Trailer Innovation 2017 awards for its advancements in air damping technology.
FSIP is part of Bridgestone, the world’s largest tire and rubber company, and benefits from its automotive expertise and research and development efforts. The company offers a full range of air springs for the global commercial vehicle market with its two product brands, Firestone Airide™ and Airogear™, and is a preferred partner of top global vehicle manufacturers. FSIP will be showcasing its solutions at IAA alongside Bridgestone. For more information, visit the FSIP website.
